On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins will officially kick off their season against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
Malik Willis will lead the way for the Dolphins as he will make his seventh career start, and first since signing a three-year, $67 million contract with the Dolphins this offseason. Meanwhile, Miami’s former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will also be starting; however, he will do so for the Atlanta Falcons.
Now, a former teammate of Tagovailoa’s during his tenure with the Dolphins has chimed in and given his thoughts on his former quarterback.
Former Miami Dolphins Starter Shares Comments on Tua Tagovailoa
Former Miami Dolphins starting linebacker Jerome Baker posted on X: “I hope Tua go out there and [expletive] ball!”
Baker was Tagovailoa’s teammate from 2020 to 2023. During that tenure, the former Miami linebacker got to see Tagovailoa’s journey from a rookie quarterback to a Pro Bowl player who was also a team captain in Baker’s last two seasons.
Overall, Baker spent six seasons with the Dolphins in which he started 82 games. He was a part of two playoff teams. Unfortunately, Baker was injured by the time the postseason came around in 2023 and he was unable to play. He was replaced by free agent linebacker Jordyn Brooks that offseason.
Despite fans turning on Tagovailoa, as evidenced by his negative reception during Atlanta’s preseason game in Miami, it appears his former teammates are still rooting for the quarterback.
Additionally, Baker was not around when Tagovailoa began to publicly call out some of his teammates to the press. That began occurring in 2024 and 2025, when the former Dolphins quarterback complained about teammates being late to team meetings or not knowing which routes to follow.
Fans met Tagovailoa’s comments with criticism as the quarterback was also struggling.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Season Debut
Tagovailoa was named the Atlanta Falcons starter by head coach Kevin Stefanski; however, it did not appear as if the former Miami quarterback truly won the quarterback competition in Atlanta. Instead, it was more so a case that Michael Penix Jr. was not deemed ready to playafter suffering a late-season ACL tear in 2025.
As a result, Tagovailoa is expected to be on a short leash. His season opener will come against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coincidentally, Tagovailoa’s last regular season snap also came against the Steelers, in a crucial Monday Night Football game for the Dolphins last season.
On that occasion, Miami arrived in Pittsburgh having won five of their last six games and with an outside chance of making the playoffs. Unfortunately, Tagovailoa had one of the worst performances of the season as the Dolphins scored only three points in the first three quarters. Following the game, former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel called out his quarterback and stated that the team needed better quarterback play. McDaniel would then bench Tagovailoa and start rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers for the final three games of the regular season.
This time around, Jerome Baker is hoping for a better performance out of his former quarterback against Pittsburgh.
Ex-Dolphins Starter Sends Clear Message to Tua Tagovailoa